A Different Vacation

I have yet to get truly connected in this day and age. We’re going on vacation today and I have no means to contact the Internet while we’re away. That means no email, no blogging, no IM’ing. I somehow feel deprived.
However, others in the group probably will have that 90’s invention, the laptop, and I can operate one of those fairly well. So I may have some connection with the ether after all.
It’s amazing, isn’t it, how we become so accustomed to wireless connections, instant communications with Australia and Iraq, and pop-up anything-you-want on the screen. We get to the point that it becomes part of us and we are somehow less than whole if we don’t tap into it regularly.
However, these next several days we will be renewing relationships with family, doting on the granddaughter, marrying off a kid, and trying to get a start on fixing up the rental property in the hometown. We’ll have plenty to keep us occupied, so I may not be very regular in checking email or blogs, and may well not write for more than a week.
Maybe this vacation from technology is just what the doctor ordered.

A Pretty Good Deal

Well, it will be just a few days until we’ll be on our way to the Kansas City area to prepare for our son’s wedding. This truly is the end of an era, and the beginning of another for us. We only had two kids, and now they both will have families of their own.
Times like this make me pause and reflect, something I don’t do very often any more. Time marches on, as they say, and there is nothing we can (or would) do to stop that.
Our son asked for pictures of him when he was home. I’m thinking they are making some kind of display. Those pictures, as we looked through them, tore my heart more than once. We had such a good time as a family when the boys were home. I couldn’t have asked for a better ride in life than what we had with our family. Even so, it’s time to move on.
Hopefully, each of my sons will have that same ride in their families and with their lives. As they look back in 20 to 25 years, hopefully they will remember the good things and decide that on balance, life handed them a pretty good deal.
And after all, any good deal we receive is really undeserved and made possible only by the grace and mercy of the One who started it all.

A Wedding

I’m getting ready for our older son’s wedding, coming up in a little over a week. I’m to officiate at the ceremony, and am preparing the services.
I know that the minister is mostly not paid-attention-to, and is there in most cases just to get the job done. However, this time it’s a little more special for me as it’s my boy that is getting married. So I am working with a little more diligence on the words I will say, and will have the services on cards word-for-word instead of having notes to use. It’s one of the more enjoyable, yet nervous-type things I’ve done over the years.
And I’ll be wearing that strait jacket otherwise known as a tux. You know, the one with the cuff links, cumber bund, and other things that no one knows how to properly wear nowadays. But that’s OK. I don’t intend to do tuxes many more times in my life, so I guess I can handle it this one time.
That day will come and go before we know it. If anything happens that day that isn’t according to “the plan,” probably no one will notice it except those who created “the plan” in the first place. They’ll be married, and we’ll take of the tuxes, the dresses, and the too-tight shoes and relax by the motel pool.

Telling a Story

Once a month, we and the girls help at a food distribution center here in town. It’s a little different concept than one might normally think. It’s totally private with no government funding. There is no income or other test in order to benefit. No questions are asked other than basic contact information and how many and which order packages one wants. We work in the area where people come to make up their packages and pick up their groceries. We also help carry out the groceries to waiting vehicles.
It is interesting to see folks come in and try to imagine what life might be like for them. Some come in with walkers or canes. Others bring munchkin kids along. Some seem to have it together, or at least they try to make us think so. Still others tell part of their story to the workers as they go around making up their orders. And a few even come by public transportation to take advantage of the reduced prices for food staples.
The condition of the vehicles many times continues the story. A few are spotless. Many are cluttered with children’s toys and baby seats. Some are downright dirty. Some are newer…some are older. Some are in good condition…some are dropping pieces of themselves on the road as they travel along.
Everyone has a story. Everyone has a history. I’m sure we’ve seen abusers and the abused. I know we’ve seen poverty and want. We’ve also seen people grateful that they don’t have to lay out their life history in order to receive help and can bolster their dignity just a bit with the few minutes of contact they have with the workers.
Everyone also has a future. For many, the future isn’t very bright. They may have a terminal illness, be on the brink of bankruptcy, or anticipating a divorce. Some may be resigning themselves to the fact that their spouse will come home drunk and beat them tonight. They’re wondering if they’ll be able to protect their kids.
Some don’t think about their future. They’ve never been taught to think beyond the next hour or so. Others may not want to think about the future because they know that it doesn’t promise to be good.
Still others may not know what the future here holds, but know their eternal future is safe and secure in the unchanging Creator of the Universe. Rich or poor, sick or healthy, black or white, married or single, these people know that something better awaits and look forward to that Day when there will be no more sickness, death, disease, abuse, hunger, or terror. “Even so, come Lord Jesus!”

Worlds Together

We have a black and white cat that stays on our campus. She’s been here for several years, and indeed is a “she”. She stays in one of the drain gutters on campus and comes out regularly and makes the rounds. She’s not a tame cat, but she’s not really wild, either. One of the girls that was here a couple of years ago and is now back says that she has petted her, although I can’t get near her.
One of these days, I suppose, some disease or injury will put her out of commission, and the tabby will be no more. However, she’s managed to survive several years and seems to be in reasonable health just now.
I guess one thing I think of when I see her strolling from one place to another, as I did just a moment ago out of the office window, is that there are multiple worlds out there that inhabit the same space. The cat’s world intersects with, contacts, and intertwines with our own. And these two worlds have interaction with a great assortment of worlds and environments of everything from birds to neighbors across the street. And in many significant ways, each of the participants in this worldly dance sort of go their own ways and do their own things and make their worlds into what they want them to be.
Humans have a decided advantage over cats. Where the cat can only make her world the way God programmed her to make it, we humans can reshape, reform, and remake our worlds into many different forms and appearances. The choice is ours to make.
We can make our worlds hell-holes, or we can make them into the beginnings of an eternal life of peace and happiness. The difference, of course, is whether or not we allow God into our worlds. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather exist in a world with my creator than in a world without Him.
Next time you have a minute or two and aren’t doing anything (yeah, right), think about all of the people whose worlds make contact with your world. Think about what their worlds might be like, then decide if you need to tell someone about the creator of the universe who wants to be in their world and make it the beginning of a blessed eternity.

Say It Ain't So

Doesn’t it just seem that whenever things are going well, something happens that pops all the bubbles? Let me tell you a brief story.
My brother in law works with the state social welfare agency. He recently received a compliment from a client that made it all the way up to the state director in Topeka. Each manager along the way complimented him on his work. In fact, the state director had this to say, “It is stirring to think that a grieving mother can pause to recognize the kindness of others as she is laying her son to rest. Obviously, you made a tremendous difference in this man's life. I truly appreciate the helpfulness you offered and the compassion with which you connected this family to critical services. Thanks for being such a wonderful ambassador of SRS and for providing services from the heart.”
The story continues, however. Due to whatever reasons, over this past weekend, the computer gurus at SRS decided to re-format and re-load all of the hard drives in all of the PC’s. They assured my brother in law that the information he had stored on his drive (contacts, email addresses, policy interpretations, etc) was safe. Monday morning he comes in and there is none of that information available. The documents that were there had been reformatted, his printer didn’t work correctly, and things were a mess…so much so that now they are saying they will replace his PC, resulting in even further loss of information.
Bruce truly works with compassion and from the heart. It is truly a travesty that this had to happen, and a further travesty that the computer nerds don’t seem to care much that they made major messes in the work lives of many folks at that agency.
Thanks, Bruce, for making a difference.

A Great Visit

We visited the zoo yesterday. The Sedgwick County Zoo is one of the better zoos I’ve visited, and yesterday my opinion was only heightened. They just opened a great penguin exhibit and have completed many other attractions in years past for both animal and human. They continue to work on the place, and are now constructing something right in the middle of the complex.
Maybe the best exhibit of them all is the rain forest. The building one enters is humid and damp, just right for a rain forest. I was amazed, as I walked the path in the forested area, at the incredible diversity of life in the ecosystem. It seemed that everywhere I looked in the forest, a pair of eyes was looking back at me. Birds, lizards, bats, frogs, and many other species of animal inhabit this area. And the fish! As I strolled into the under-aquarium tube to gaze at the fish, the wondrous diversity of species, color, size, and shape mesmerized me. The plant life was lush and green, providing protection and food for a wide variety of animal life.
As I exited, I noticed that my clothes were wet and I really appreciated the lower humidity of the outdoors, even though the outdoor humidity was so high it bordered on oppressive.
I was again struck at the creative nature of God. Who ever heard of a big baby blue bird that walks on the ground that has a mohawk haircut? Why on earth would God have made a square fish? Or mammals that hang upside down to sleep (bats)? I have to wonder just how much of a sense of humor God has as I look at some of the things He has made.
What about the gorgeous tree frogs whose skin is so poisonous that humans can be killed just by touching them? Or the pretty green snakes or the lizards with tails that come off when attacked by a predator or well…you just think of some of your own.
Some time when you have a few hours, go to a zoo near you and appreciate the creation and all that is in it. And think of the One who made it all and marvel.

A Good Harvest

Toto, Kansas is alive and well. The past couple of days, we’ve been blown at from the south by hot and dry winds, only to have them shift about 9:30 last night to the north. They blow from the north at about the same speed, but thankfully not the same temperature.
This morning it’s dry, but more pleasant due to the cooler temperatures outside. This time of year, however, it usually gets warm rather quickly after a cool front comes through, and the next day or two promises to be no exception to that.
This is harvest weather. You may not have ever experienced wheat harvest in Kansas. But if you have, you know that when it turns hot, windy, and dry about this time of year, the wheat also turns that golden color and the farmers are itching to get it cut and in the elevators.
I probably won’t see much harvest activity living in the middle of Wichita. And in a way, that’s kind of sad because that used to be my favorite time of year. Just out of school, the summer looming large, there was a beehive of activity in preparation for the harvest. We worked on equipment, went to the parts stores, bought fuel, oil, and grease, and hoped it wouldn’t hail.
During harvest, we saw friends at the elevator we hadn’t seen in a long time (Sam Allenbaugh at Duqoin, Sam and Ralph Barker at Harper, and others), talked about the quality of the harvest (protein, moisture, etc), and planned how to raise this next year’s crop. We ate out of Guardian Service cookware either in the field or in the kitchen of the old house on the north place. We could count on Mom bringing out pot roast with spuds and carrots along with corn, fruit, iced tea, and usually a home-baked pie. We had real plates and flatware, too. Somehow, those meals were the best-tasting….
It is my wish that you have a good harvest this year.

Nickel Cokes

Today marks the first day of the summer schedule for the girls. My, my, we have a lot to do this summer. Let’s see…there are classes (violence prevention, nutrition, math and reading tutoring, yoga, etc), volunteer work at the nursing home down the street, recreation time, R & R, and other things on the schedule. Add to that the summer camp and mission trip and the summer is rather filled, I think.
Some of the girls enjoyed the week between school and the summer schedule with not a lot to do. Others had a hard time keeping occupied. I know that’s sort of an age-old problem, but I guess my question is why don’t I seem to have a hard time finding something to do?
I think when we get older, one of two things happen. Either we fill our schedules faster, or we work at them slower. In either event, we have more undone stuff staring us in the face than many kids do nowadays. I long for the days I remember when I whined to my mother that I had nothing to do and the summers seemed to last forever.
We had two acres on the edge of town back then (in the late 50’s and early 60’s) and dad farmed as well as worked in plumbing and heating. We had a big garden, kept chickens and rabbits, and had fruit trees. A grain elevator was next door and a rail spur ran along our property line that served both the elevator and the county shop on down the line. A drainage ditch was just a half block from our place and many times had tadpoles, crawdads (crayfish), and other wild animals inhabiting it. A woods abutted the drainage ditch and had wonderful old, abandoned hulks of cars, piles of concrete, and other junk in it. There was plenty of opportunity to find stuff to do, productive or not.
Many days I climbed the fence that separated the elevator from our place and went over to the office and sat in there, taking in the conversation of the men who came in. Sometimes I bought a Coke out of the old vending machine…a nickel bought a 6 ½ oz bottle. I knew most of the men who came in, and enjoyed the “adult” conversations of these mostly WWII veterans.
Maybe what is wrong nowadays is that there are no more rail spurs and grain elevators in a residential area or places to keep chickens inside the city limits of most towns. Drain ditches are covered over and no longer serve as breeding grounds for animals except skunks and feral cats. There’s no longer any place where a kid can feel comfortable loafing, buying a Coke for a nickel out of a machine.
I don’t want to go back to those days, but it really is true that the bad memories seem to gradually fade as the good ones are kept. I wonder if there will be a nickel Coke machine in the grain elevator office in heaven….

Truly Caring

My little brother and I (and my two sons) worked yesterday at my rental property in a small community near here. There has been a lot of rain all over the area, and the rental was no exception. It rained so much that the cellar and crawl space under the house flooded. This is no small matter, as when it flooded, it also knocked loose some support for the house and one floor began to sag.
Yesterday was fix-up day. We all four went there and opened the door only to find three feet of water in the cellar. We pumped that out, then found up to a foot of muck on the floor. Nothing to do but to start shoveling and bucketing the muck up and out.
We worked like that all morning, alternating doing that with fixing the guttering and drainage around the place. In the afternoon, we had enough shoveled out that we were able to have some working room and installed a beam that would raise the floor back and provide the proper support.
Soggy, muddy, filthy, tired and hurting, we were all worn to a frazzle.We were happy to load up and head home. On the way, by brother said something to the effect that this had been absolutely the worst job he has ever had to do. He then said something about being glad, in one respect, that he did this because it showed him that he was willing to do something that not everyone would be willing to do.
I understand that attitude, and would add that he even did it for someone else and not himself...and did it with humor and attention to the job.
Such a quality is increasingly rare these days. It's nice to be part of a family that cares and truly loves each other. Thanks.